The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been urged to pay compensation to a British ex-pat who was left thousands of pounds out of pocket
Thousands of older people could soon receive compensation from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), thanks to a Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigation’s findings.
It’s key to highlight that this particular probe by the Ombudsman isn’t tied to the State Pension age changes that affected about 3.6 million women born in the 1950s.
The PHSO’s latest inquiry revealed that the DWP took a staggering eight years to inform a British expat about alterations to his State Pension, leaving him out of pocket by £3,000 a year. The Ombudsman has urged the UK Government to make sure all communications are “always fair, clear, and consistent”.
On another note, the State Pension age is set to gradually climb from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028. A further hike to 68 is expected in the 2040s. To verify your own State Pension age, you can utilise the free online tool available at GOV.UK here, reports the Daily Record.
In a specific instance, Adrian Furnival, now 82, and his wife Sheila, 67, who moved to Brittany in 1994, only discovered in 2018 through the annual DWP uprating letter that he would lose Adult Dependency Increase (ADI) payments from 2020 – a sum given when the main earner reaches State Pension age but their partner hasn’t. The PHSO has recognised that due to this change, he’ll be down by more than £250 each month.
UK residents received information about changes to ADI payments back in 2010, yet the PHSO has flagged that the DWP failed to properly brief Adrian about these updates, action they were meant to take come April 2010.
The Ombudsman criticised the DWP’s response to his initial questions and grievances and stated Adrian deserves a “sorry” from the Department, along with a cheque for “£675 for the injustice he suffered”.
It came to light via the PHSO: “The number of those who were living abroad and entitled to ADI is unknown but in May 2019, a year before ADI ended, DWP told Parliament that 10,817 people were still in receipt of ADI.”
The watchdog goes further, pressing the DWP to issue a “comparable remedy to anyone who approaches the Department in a similar situation”.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Rebecca Hilsenrath didn’t pull punches when discussing the debacle, saying: “Poor communication from Government departments damages trust in public services.”
She continued: “DWP has a history of failing to communicate pension policy changes clearly and failing to learn from its mistakes. In Adrian’s case, this meant that, without the right information, he lost the opportunity to prepare for his retirement. It also caused him unnecessary financial worry.”
Ms Hilsenrath stressed: “Anyone who believes they have had a similar experience to Adrian should contact DWP. DWP has complied with our recommendations and will provide a comparable remedy to anyone who approaches them with a similar situation.”
Last December saw a significant development when the DWP conceded maladministration following the PHSO’s assessment of its communication to women born in the 1950s about changes to their State Pension age, and extended an apology. However, the Department has stopped short of fully adopting the PHSO’s advice, opting not to set up a compensation scheme for the affected women.
The Department has pledged to take on board the insights gained from this case and is working alongside the Ombudsman to draw up a plan that promises clearer communication of future policy changes.
Adrian’s full account can be accessed on the PHSO website here.